Two dozen Volcano Disaster Assistance Program scientists and engineers based at Vancouver’s U.S. Geological Survey office don’t know what will become of their jobs or their mission to respond to volcanic eruptions around the world. The program is almost entirely funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is firmly in the bull’s-eye of the second Trump administration. The administration and the Department of Government Efficiency made moves earlier this month to shut down USAID, attempting to fold it into the U.S. State Department. President Donald Trump decried what he called waste and abuse in the agency and went on to fire its inspector general.

After Trump signed an executive order freezing foreign aid in January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio maintained “existing life-saving humanitarian assistance programs” would continue, although multiple media reports have cited workers saying that hasn’t happened. Federal employees have been barred from speaking with people outside their departments, so the status of the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program staff and program isn’t certain. Representatives for the U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS’s parent agency, didn’t immediately respond to The Columbian’s inquiries about the program’s status or future. The program recently won the American Geophysical Union 2024 International Award, according to a Jan. 7 news release.

The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, established in 1986, has responded to about 70 major volcanic crises around the world, according to the media release. It was created in response to an eruption in Colombia in 1985, which killed some 25,000 people, and has since helped save tens of thousands of lives globally, according to the program’s website. “The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, or VDAP, plays a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of volcanic eruptions and unrest around the world,” Jake Lowenstern, U.S. Geological Survey scientist and director of the disaster assistance program for the past seven years, said in the release. The program, a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, trains observatory scientists, helps during volcano crises responses and provides equipment to improve monitoring. The team of 24, which deploys its staff mostly outside the U.S., includes people working in geophysics, geology, engineering, geochemistry and computer science.